Telephone pay station



Aug. 30, 1938. A. WEISS ET A. 2,128,337

TELEPHONE PAY STATION Filed Nov.` 5, 1936 mummy INVENTORS /Wfdqm new w 7m MMM/7 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 30, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

Application November 5, 1936, Serial No. 109,232

4 Claims.

This invention relates to telephone pay stations and particularly to coin receiving boxes in which the bridging of the electric switch or make and break mechanism for the electric connections is 5 eiected by the deposit of the coin or token.

Our invention has for its principal object to provide means whereby the deposit of slugs or the like in lieu of genuine coins in the coin boxes can be easily and quickly detected.

Another object of this invention is to provide a construction whereby the token deposited in said coin box will be made visible outside the telephone booth so that the person depositing a slug or non-genuine coin can be apprehended before he leaves the telephone booth.

With these and other objects in View our invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be more fully described and defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing which constitutes part of this specification and in which similar reference characters denote corresponding parts Fig. 1 is a reduced perspective View of a booth containing the coin box and the means for rendering visible the deposits outside said booth;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional elevation of the coin box embodying our invention; and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section of a detail of the coin box and of the means for reflecting the deposited token outside the telephone booth.

In the drawing I denotes the telephone booth with the coin box II xed inside said booth, as 35 usual, to one of the side walls IIJa thereof.

The coin box II is provided on its top with the usual slots or openings IIa through which coins of diierent denominations, such as nickels, dimes and quarters, are deposited. Extending downwardly from said slots or openings are chutes I2 of well known construction, all terminating at their lower ends into a hopper I3 into which the deposited tokens are adapted tol drop and from which they are to be delivered into a receptacle or trap I4 mounted below said hopper. This receptacle is composed of two sections Illa, I 4b pivoted at their upper edges, as at I4', and is open on top, as at I5', said opening coinciding with the opening I3 in the bottom of the hopper I3, so that the tokens dropping into the hopper will pass through the openings I3 and I5 into the space I5 between the wings or side walls of the two sections I4a, I4b of the receptacle I4. In width this space I5 is slightly larger than the thickness of an ordinary coin, as for instance that of a nickel, and in height and length it may be so admeasured as to accommodate a number of coins to rest on top and alongside one another. The bottom of said space I5 is also open, as at |52, and extending longitudinally below the said opening I52 is a cylindrically shaped metal rod I6 which is suitably pivoted at one end, as at I6', and whose opposite end |62 carries an electric contact piece I'I which is adapted to cooperate with a contact I8, said Contact pieces I'I and I8 constituting a part of the make and break mechanism of an electric circuit .r for the telephone connections. Normally, that is in the absence of a coin or token in the space I5, the rod I6 will under the action of a spring I9 be held so as to break the communication between the contacts I'I and I8. The side walls or wings of the sections |423 I4b of sai-d receptacle have extensions |43, |44 below the rod I6 which normally are adapted to bear against one another to form a closure which will prevent the tokens from dropping out from the space I5.

Each wing or side of said receptacle is connected by a. rod 20 to the armature 2I of a solenoid 22 adapted to be energized by the electric circuit y controlled by the operator in well known manner. When the proper amount has been deposited, and the user gets the telephone connection desired, the operator will close the circuit through the right solenoid, as a result of which the right wing or section I4ai will be swung laterally to permit the coins to drop down a chute or slide 23 leading into the coin collecting box 24. If, on the other hand, the user fails to get the desired connection or for other reasons the money is to be returned to the user, the operator will cause the left side solenoid to be energized thereby causing the left wing or section llib of the receptacle to swing open to thus permit the 40 tokens to drop over the chute 23 into the coin return compartment 25,

The wings or sections |45, Mb of the receptacle I4 may be provided with counter weights 26 or actuated by springs so that when one or the other 45, of the wings is swung away from its mate, the latter may swing somewhat in the same direction as indicated by dotted lines to project beyond the crest 23a of the two chutes and thereby prevent the coins from falling into the wrong compart- 5o ment.

The side walls of these sections are made of glass or other transparent material or provided with such windows so that al1 tokens deposited in the space I5 of said receptacle are visible through 55 said sides. Arranged in the vicinity of said receptacle is an electric light L adapted to illuminate the tokens in said receptacle. This light may be ignited through the electric circuit Which is controlled from the make and break mechanism I1 and I8 operated by the rod I6 when a token is deposited into said receptacle and rests on said rod.

Suitably arranged and leading outwardly from the telephone cabinet H and through the booth I0 to any convenient place is a periscopic tube 21 of well known construction. The inner end or mouth portion 21 of said periscope is adapted to face one of the transparent wings or sides of the receptacle and is provided With a suitable lens 28 through which the tokens t will be thrown onto a reflecting prism or mirror 29 and thence through similar prisms 30 located at the other end of the periscope.

In the example shown, the outer end 212 of the periscope is shown at the rear and at the top of the booth. This end may be extended forwardly and provided with a magnifying lens 3l arranged in a somewhat slanting position so that anybody standing outside of the booth may see the tokens reflected therein through the periscope.

Instead of terminating on top of the booth, the periscope may be extended to any part of the particular premises where the booths are located, as for instance, if located in a drugstore, the outer end of the periscope may terminate in the rear of the store where a clerk may be able to always observe whether the coins deposited by the occupant of the booth are genuine.

It is, of course, obvious that various modifications may be made in the construction and arrangement of the parts Without departing from the principle of our invention.

We, therefore, do not wish to limit ourselves to the details shown and described.

What We claim is:

1. In a telephone pay station, the combination with a coin box or cabinet having coin delivery means, of a transparent coin trap concealed within said cabinet adapted to trap the coins in upstanding position, a coin display means remote from said cabinet and means leading from a point opposite said trap to said coin display means for rendering the individual coins contained in said trap visible through said coin display means.

2. In a telephone pay station, the combination with a booth and coin box or cabinet therein having coin delivery means, of a transparent coin trap concealed in said cabinet and holding the coins in upstanding position, a coin display means on said booth, and means disposed opposite said transparent coin trap within said cabinet and leading outwardly to said coin display means for rendering the individual trapped coins visible through said coin display means.

3. In a telephone pay station, the combination with a box or cabinet having coin delivery means, of a transparent coin trap concealed within said cabinet and holding the coins in upstanding position, a coin display means remote from said Cabinet, means for illuminating the coins in said trap, and means disposed opposite said transparent trap within said cabinet and leading out- Wardly to said coin display means for rendering the individual trapped coins visible through said coin display means.

,4. In a telephone pay station, the combination with a coin box or cabin-et having coin delivery means, of a transparent coin trap within said cabinet, a coin display means remote from said cabinet, and means for rendering the coins in said trap visible through said coin display means, said means including a tube leading from a point opposite said transparent trap outwardly from said cabinet to said display means.

ABRAHAM WEISS. JOSEPH WEISS. 

